Gleason on Jets: Gang Green, Sanchez showing grit in 3-0 start

Monday

Sep 28, 2009 at 2:00 AM

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — We were 5½ minutes into Sunday's game when Mark Sanchez couldn't find anyone open and tucked it in on third-and-10 from the Titans' 14. Sanchez had a clear path until inside the 5, when Michael Griffin came up from his safety position intent on separating the Jets quarterback's head from his shoulders.

Kevin Gleason

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — We were 5½ minutes into Sunday's game when Mark Sanchez couldn't find anyone open and tucked it in on third-and-10 from the Titans' 14. Sanchez had a clear path until inside the 5, when Michael Griffin came up from his safety position intent on separating the Jets quarterback's head from his shoulders.

Sanchez looked as though he wasn't going to get the touchdown. The first-down yardage would seem to be an ample opening course against the starving Titans. But the kid out of USC, the kid whose college coach thought needed another season in the Pac 10, suddenly displayed the proper dose of rookie guts and stupidity.

Sanchez lowered his head like a fullback on fourth-and-one. Griffin, perhaps as surprised as the other 76,000 witnesses, met Sanchez helmet-for-helmet near the west end zone of Giants Stadium. Sanchez closed in on the goal line, and, in one last effort, stuck the football across the chalk for the touchdown.

"That's just the way I've been playing since I was little,'' he said three hours and several gut-checks later. "When it's on the line like that, you need to dive for a first down or something.'' Sanchez then gave a sheepish rookie grin and added, "I don't know if coach was thrilled about it.''

If Rex Ryan wasn't thrilled about the decision, he sure liked the result. He had just seen the Jets go to 3-0 with a 24-17 win, a win every bit as impressive as the one a week earlier against the Patriots.

"He's going to do that probably every time,'' Ryan said of his, um, headstrong quarterback. "He's such a competitive young man. He's got a lot of guts and courage.''

Sanchez gave us the whole package on Sunday. He had a terrific first quarter. He had a horrific second quarter. But he kept on slinging it, kept on believing, and after Tennessee turned a 14-0 deficit into a 17-14 lead on the opening drive of the second half, Sanchez and the Jets rose instead of cowered.

They would have been forgiven for succumbing to the Titans. Tennessee was a team, after all, that won 13 games last year, a team exponentially better than its 0-2 record coming in, a team hungry, angry and desperate — three variables that usually translate into victory in the NFL.

Yet the Jets still led Tennessee on a path to 0-3, a record since 1990 that has resulted in about 90 percent of its owners missing the playoffs. Teams that start 3-0, on the other hand, have made the playoffs 75 percent of the time since '90.

But you won't hear the Jets talking about the postseason. They were perceived to be a bit too loose in their approach during the week when Ryan corralled them after practice on Thursday. His message was typically straightforward.

"He thought everybody was fooling around and he gave us a pep talk,'' cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "He got a little bit mad. But that's his job to make sure we are ready on Sunday.''

And boy were they ready. The Jets needed 10 plays to go 73 yards on the game-opening touchdown drive. When returner Ryan Mouton's fumble on the ensuing kickoff left the Jets 19 yards from the end zone, they made it 14-0 five plays later.

The play call on the TD served as an example of why these Jets are easy to cheer. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer showed a tightly bunched formation on second-and-goal from the 2. It was a basic run look, a conservative goal-line call that's typical in the NFL. Instead, Sanchez made a great fake to Thomas Jones, who sold it by diving into the pile, before hitting wide-open backup tight end Ben Hartsock for the score.

"Schotty stayed aggressive,'' Ryan said.

So did the Jets' defense. Like last week, when the Jets blitzed Tom Brady onto the team bus, they went after Kerry Collins down the stretch. Constant pressure forced Collins into hurried throws.

So much for that other NFL staple, the prevent defense, that has earned a legendary role in late-game comebacks. But the Jets aren't like a lot of teams. They have a rookie quarterback who doesn't play like one, a rookie head coach who doesn't coach like one, and a long-suffering franchise that doesn't think like one.

Now the Jets have a 3-0 record and another layer of confidence. Opponents have learned something real fast about these Jets: They are not just good. They are tough and hungry and desperate, all the things that were supposed to bring Tennessee the win.